Improvement in folding tables



HENRY BUTMAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW vYORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16l,750, dated April 6,1875; application filed August 18, 1874.

To all fwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BUTMAN, of the city of Brooklyn, county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Lap-Boards or Cutting- Tables, of which the following, taken incounection with the accompanying drawing, is a full, clear, and exactdescription:

My invention is intended to furnish a light, strong, and portable table,more especially valuable as a cutting-table, to take the place of thelap-board generally in use, but also suitable for many other purposes.

Figure l is a plan of said table. Fig. 2 is a view of one corner of thetable inverted, so as to show the hinge and strips by which the legs ofthe table may be folded or braced.

It should be light, portable, and quickly adjustable, as well as capableof being stored away in a small space, and, especially, it should befirm, and not easily disarranged when adjusted for use. i

In prior attempts which have been made to supply a substitute for alap-board, in the way of a folding table, steadiness has been sought tobe attained by connecting the legs by cross-pieces below the hinges;and, where simple leaf-hinges have been used without braces, it has beendone at a sacrifice of stead iness, or with a liability to loosen byuse. To obviate these objections is the object of my present invention,which is as follows A represents the top of the table, which is inade ofwood, the most desirable dimensions being about thirty-six inches inlength by twenty-four inches in width. To enable the top board to bemade light, and of thin wood, I surround the under edge of this boardwith strips of Wood about an inch in width and thickness. These stripsof wood strengthen the top, keep it from warping, and alford a place ofattachment for the legs and braces. The strips B, Which run across theends ofthe board, are beveled on one side, b, to afford a correspondingface and rest to the wooden strips O, to which the legs D of the table Aare fastened by being inserted in the strip by threads turned on theleg, or by bolts through the ends thereof. The strips B, with the legsattached thereto, are joined to the body of the table in the followingmanner: A metal clamp-hinge, of substantially the form shown at H, inFig. 2, is attached to each end of the strips, so as to encircle andform a plane surface with the same, the ends of the strip having beenfirst shaved off to allow for the thickness of the hinge, as shown at Ein Fig. 2. One portion of this clamp, as shown at Y, is so constructedas to receive a metal rod, It. This construction affords a hinge whichrequires no screws or nails, caunot Work loose from the strip, and bindsthe strip, so as to prevent the legs or bolts from splitting it. Thestrips C, thus provided with legs and hinges, are placed on the underside of the table, between the side strips, and with their beveled edgesresting on the beveled edges b of the end strips B. The rod It is thenrun through the side-strips and the clamps at Y. The same rod runningacross the table will form the fulcruin and fastening part for bothhinges, and will also serve as a brace to the strip and table at thesame time. A brace for the legs and check to the hinges is formed asfollows: A piece of metal, with a knee-joint in the middle, as shown atJ in Fig. 1, is pro` vided for each leg. One end of this brace isfastened to the leg D by a rivet, T, running through the leg at rightangles to the brace, while a corresponding rivet runs through the otherend of the brace and the side strip under the table. In this device theknee-joints keep leg-strips O in their place, and also keep eachindividual leg I) steadily braced, while the rivets T, running throughthe legs, keep the legs from turning in their sockets, and do away withall necessity for cross-pieces between the legs. By breaking theknee-joints the legs can be folded up under the table, and the wholetable be stowed away in the space of an ordinary cutting-board, andready for use at a moments notice.

I do not claim, broadly, as my invention, a folding cutting-board 5 nordo I claim hinged legs or braced legs indiscriminately, for I only claiman improvement in a folding table.

l/Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

A folding table containing the combination of top board A, end strips C,clamp-hinges H, rod It, and knee-joint braces J, substantially asdescribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature.

HENRY BUTMAN.

Witnesses:

F. W. HANAFORD, B. E. VALENTINE.

